Markets open in red; Bharti Airtel, Cairn, Idea up

MUMBAI: The S&P BSE Sensex opened on a subdued note on Friday as traders chose to book profits after the recent rally in the frontline stocks. Banks, auto, IT and FMCG sectors led the decline while realty and metals were marginally in the green.

"Initial results have been a mixed bag, but the surprise has unexpectedly come from banks and BHEL while IT has disappointed. Low inflation reading has increased expectation of lower interest rates and investors have lapped up beaten down consumer discretionary stocks. Latest forecasts point to only a 3 per cent chance of below normal monsoon. If oil and gold remain low, India could be in a sweet spot," he said.

At 9:20 a.m., the 30-share index was at 19,345.20, down 61.65 points or 0.32 per cent. It touched a high of 19,384.95 and a low of 19,317.71 in trade today.

The Nifty was at 5,894.10, down 21.55 points or 0.36 per cent. It touched a high of 5,907.05 and a low of 5,894.10 in early trade today.

"Considering the current optimism and FII buying, it can be inferred that if the markets can sustain above yesterday's high of 19,435 / 5,925 then they may test the 19,755 / 5,971 level which nearly coincides with the 78.60 per cent Fibonacci retracement of the fall from 20,204 / 6,112 to 18,144 / 5,477," said Angel Broking note.

"On the flipside, a break of yesterday's low of 19,192 / 5,853 may lead to a correction and indices may fall towards the support levels of 18,950 - 18,870 / 5,765 - 5,732. The momentum oscillators on the daily chart have now entered extreme overbought territory. Hence, possibility of consolidation or correction near 19,755 / 5,971 cannot be ruled out. Hence, we advise traders to book at least partial profits and trade with strict stop losses," the note added.

The S&P BSE Midcap Index was up 0.14 per cent and the S&P BSE Smallcap Index was 0.24 per cent higher.

Among the sectoral indices, the S&P BSE Bankex was down 1 per cent, the S&P BSE Auto Index was 0.57 per cent lower, the S&P IT Index was slipped 0.36 per cent and the S&P BSE FMCG Index was 0.33 per cent lower. The S&P BSE Metal Index was up 0.25 per cent and the S&P BSE Oil & Gas Index was 0.13 per cent higher.

Hero MotoCorp (1.83 per cent), SBI (1.51 per cent), TCS (1.42 per cent), Jindal Steel (1.25 per cent) and M&M (1.02 per cent) were among the top Sensex losers.

Bharti Airtel (3.74 per cent), Sterlite Industries (1.38 per cent), Bajaj Auto (1.01 per cent), Wipro (1 per cent) and Cipla (0.97 per cent) were among the top gainers.

Idea Cellular Ltd surged nearly 11 per cent in early trade to hit its 52-week high of Rs 128.70, a day after the telecom operator reported better-than-expected results in the March 2013 quarter which was also its strongest in several quarters.

The second-largest telecom operator in the country in terms of revenue reported Rs 6,061.4 crore in sales compared with ET Now Poll of Rs 5,856 crore. Net profit rose sequentially by 35 per cent to Rs 308.2 crore, supported by better operating performance and lower interest costs compared with the previous quarter.

Market breadth was positive on the BSE with 527 gainers against 393 losers.